I know this subject has been beaten to death, but I haven't found the answer to this detail. If I get the Italian SIM card and am issued an Italian phone number, friends/family/petsitter/etc back in the USA would have to incur the cost of an international phone call to reach me, right? At what expense? Or would everyone back home just have to text/email me instead except in an emergency? Thanks yet again.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Correct. The phone number (and your provider and contract) are tied to the SIM card, not to your phone. It also works the other way around, if you put your current SIM card in another phone, that gets your numbert and you pay the bills.
Yes, if you have an Italian SIM card in your phone, you will have an Italian phone number. Your friends have to dial that number to reach you, and pay whatever rates their phone company charges them for a call to Italy. To answer your question, they would have to ask their phone provider.
Yes they could text you, then they pay whatever rates their phone company charges them for a text to to Italy.
As far as e-mail is concerned, you would then have to set up access to your e-mail account on your phone, and they send an e-mail as per normal.
The big advantage is that you pay Italian rates for calls to Italian numbers, and to the rest of Europe.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15260 posts
Calling the US from your Italian number will not be that expensive. So it's probably better if you do the calling. That is especially true if you purchase the Holiday plan from Vodafone or the Welcome plan from TIM. Those plans are designed for foreign tourists traveling in Italy for less than a month. Those plans include 1 or 2 Gb of data and 200/300 minutes of voice calls, including at least 50 international minutes to call outside Italy, including US. The cost ranges from 20 to 30 € depending on which plan you use (Vodafone is €30 but it includes more Gb of data and more minutes and texts than TIM, which is only €20.)
Posted by
14 posts
Thank you! I wanted to know that too!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32913 posts
Just remember the time difference, and remind anybody likely to call you - anybody you give that Italian number to - of the time difference, too.
You don't want them to call you after dinner and wake you up at 2 in the morning.
You wouldn't call them after breakfast and wake them up.
And if they call you, they may catch you while you are doing something special, like when you are in the Doge's Palace or in the Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican. Calls would be inappropriate in such places, but they won't know where you are.
Texts and especially emails can be returned at leisure, and calling them using Skype is nearly free.
If you and they have iPhones, iMessages are free anywhere in the world (the text turns blue instead of green.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
From the US, calling an Italian cell phone is usually more expensive than calling an Italian land line (the actual prices, of course, depend on the caller's plan). So, given that with the options above (TIM Welcome, Skype, FaceTime, etc), it will be much cheaper for you to call them, as well as the time difference and sightseeing interruption issues correctly mentioned above, the method that has worked best for me is, people in the US text me, and I then call them back. Texts from the US to Italy these days are almost always $0.50 or less (much less if they have an international texting plan).
Posted by
48 posts
You call them. It'll be free to both (well it will be included in the SIM you purchase).
I would have them txt you. Then you call them.
It will be minimal for them to txt you. And free for you to call them back
Posted by
48 posts
You call them. It'll be free to both (well it will be included in the SIM you purchase).
I would have them txt you. Then you call them.
It will be minimal for them to txt you. And free for you to call them back